Lighting fixture



Oct. 17, 1939. P J PARLATQ 2,176,236

LIGHTING FIXTURE Filed Feb. 18, 1938 INVENTOR.

K Q w ATTORNEYS will efliciently perform the purposes for which itobvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

Patented Oct. 17, 1939 2,176,236

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LIGHTING FIXTURE Peter J. Parlato, New York,N. Y.

Application February 18, 1938, Serial No. 191,131

but not necessarily directly from, the principal light source.

In Figure 1, l0 denotes a lamp socket suspended or supported in anysuitable fashion. From or with socket In there may be supported thelight unit and/or reflecting units. As shown, a sleeve I2 is screwedonto and surrounding socket II]. An electric light bulb I4 may bescrewed into and extend downward from socket l0. Supporting means areprovided for hanging the various reflectors from the sleeve 12. Thesemay take any convenient form such as a plurality of chains I6 detachablysecured, each at a respective end, to the sleeve.

Suspended in one way or another from the chains l6 are a plurality ofribs 18 spaced at their upper ends and approaching each other at theirlower ends where they may be integral with each other or connected toeach other as at the connection l9. They define a space interior to themin which an electric light bulb may be positioned. They may be concaveoutward in accordance with any shape of a bulb. They may actuallysupport the bulb.

In general, it is intended that the ribs I 8 be visible even though nodirect rays from the bulb strike them. To assist in this, ribs l8 may beof smooth or polished metal.

The light from the bulb I4 may beprincipally directed upward by areflecting cap or cover 20 on the lower side of the bulb. It may be onthe inside or outside thereof and may or may not conform to the bulbshape. It may be spaced from the bulb envelope. It extends to the upperends of the ribs.

7 Above, or'in the neighborhood of, the upper ends of the ribs, meansare provided for indirectly illuminating the ribs. This may take theform of a reflecting annulus 22 preferably of glass which extends abovethe upper edge of the cover 20 and intercepts some of the light rays.Its upper surface may be frosted or cut at an angle or otherwisearranged so as to direct those rays downward to give at least arelatively soft glow toward and onto the ribs. Beneath the annulus 22there is an opaque annulus 24 preferably of metal. It may support theglass ring 22 and be supported by chains Hi. It may be connected to andsupport ribs I8. I It has vertical openings 26 through it leading to thesuperposed ring 22, which open ings may be directed toward the ribs 18.I

Reflector 28 extends upwardly and outwardly 8 Claims.

This invention relates to lighting fixtures and more specifically tooverhead lighting fixtures.

In general, it is an object of the invention to provide a device of thecharacter described, which is intended, which is simple and economicalof construction, which can be expeditiously, conveniently and safelymanipulated, and which can be readily manufactured and assembled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fixture havinginteriorly-illuminated, lower, structural elements and such elements soilluminated although the lower end of the light bulbs used have opaqueor slightly translucent covers thereover; to provide a fixture havingstructural elements which extend beneath such a bulb and cover and whichmay be at least faintly illuminated from the bulb, as by alight-transmitting glass above the upper edge of such cover: and toprovide such fixtures where the under side of an opaque reflector isindirectly illuminated independently of, or simultaneously with. the?illumination of the lower structural members.

Other objects of the invention will in part be The invention accordinglycomprises an article of manufacture possess ng the features, properties,and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the articlehereinafter described, and the scope of the application of which will beindicated inthe claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in

which:

Figure 1 is a View, part y in eleva ion and partly in vertical section,of a device embodying one form of the invention;

Fig. 2is a view as seen from below of the lower part of the. deviceshown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a view. in section, of a portion of the device shown in Fig. 1and taken along the line 3'3 of Fig. 2;

Figs. 4 and 5 are views similar to Fig. 1 of modifications of the deviceshown in Fig. 1:

. Fig. 6 is a view as seen from below of the device shown in Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a view as seen from below of a modification of the deviceshown in Fig. 5. a j

The present invention contemplates, among other forms, an indirectlighting unit having structural and decorative elements on the under ani p i d to reflect pw y l ht side and extending across the bottomthereof ceived u s upper Surface from the bulb which are illuminatedsufliciently to be visible by, Reflector 28 may be Supported direotlyfrom chains l6 and support in turn the ring and annulus, or it may reston ring 22 or annulus 24. As shown, the ring 22 has an outer upstandingflange 32 radially inward of flange 30. The lower edge of reflector 28seats on ring 22 radially inward of I flange 3U. Reflector 2B isPreferably opaque.

If now, the lower end of the bulb is covered as by a coating or a cap orcover, borne by the bulb or surrounding elements, light escapes from thebulb over the upper rim of. the cover onto the upper side of reflector28 and also into the glass ring 22. The latter, due to its generalcloudiness or to its surfaces, glows and reflects light through.

the openings 26 illuminating the ribs I8. The flange 32 also transmitslight to the under side of reflector 28 so as to give at least a softillumination thereof.

The coating, cap or cover is preferably opaque. It may be metallic. Itmay be very slightly translucent. The opacity may arise from thematerial comprising the lower end of the bulb.

In the case where there is no covering 20 or the like, the other partsfunction to illuminate those parts which are not directly in the path ofthe light rays and, in that way, the ribs ill, for example, instead ofappearing dark, have their outer surfaces independently lighted.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4, the ribs M8 are supported by theglass annulus 422. They may also be of glass and be integral with theannulus. As before, if the lower end of the light bulb is covered, theribs H8 are illuminated from the annulus but, in this form, they areinteriorly lighted so that they glow. They may be slightly milky. Theymay be colored glass. Thus, they may seem to be congealed shafts ofglowing light extending under the device as a whole.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5, the glass ribs 5l8 are supported bythe annulus 524 which is supported by'supports 5l6. The upper end 5l9 ofeach rib catches the light from above and illuminates the interior ofthe ribs as described in connection with Fig. 4. Between the ribs 5l8,there may be frosted or dark glass not lighted from above, or metal oropaque panels 534, as shown more fully in Fig. '7. V

The light sources referred to herein as lamps or bulbs may be of anyconvenient design and need not be bulbous in contour, although that is apreferred form. They may be raised or lowered relatively to the partssurrounding them by moving those parts by screwedly changing theposition of the sleeve l2 with respect to the socket Ill. The opaquecovering on the bulbs may have a portion thereof removed or absent so asto give a decorative design. The amountof light emitted through such adesign may be negligible.

Any element which is capable of surrounding another element may be usedas an equivalent in place of those elements which are described hereinas annular. The surrounding elements may be rings, polygons, etc., withmany flat, outer, peripheral sides, for example. Translucent materialssuch as the translucent plastics may be used in place of, and witheffect equivalent to, the glass mentioned herein.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and differentembodiments of the invention could be made without departing from thescope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in theabove description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended tocover all of the generic and specific features of the invention hereindescribed, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as amatter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination comprising asupporting element, an annular metallic element supported by saidsupporting element and having vertical openings therethrough, an annularglass element supported by said metallic element and positioned oversaid openings, an annular opaque reflector extending upward and outwardand supported by one of said elements, depending, metallic,outwardly-bulging ribs joined at their lower ends and supported by oneof said elements, an electric light within the space defined by saidribs, and an opaque covering associated with the illuminated end of saidlight and extending upward as far as said glass element, said glass ele--ment being adapted to receive light over the edge of said covering andto reflect said received light down through said openings and adjacentsaid ribs to illumine said ribs with at least a faint glow and toreflect said received light against the lower surface of said opaquereflector, the lower surface of said reflector being positioned toreceive only such reflected. light, the upper surface of said reflectorbeing positioned .to receive light direct from said electric light.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination comprising asupporting element, an annular metallic element supported by saidsupporting element and having vertical openings therethrough, an annularglass element supported by said metallic element and positioned oversaid openings, depending, metallic, outwardly-bulging ribs joined attheir lower ends and supported by one of said elements, an electriclight within the space defined by said ribs,.and an opaque coveringassociated with the. illuminated end of said light and extendingupwardly as far as said glass element, said glass element being adaptedto receivelight over the edge of said covering and to reflect saidreceived light down through said openings and adjacent said ribs toillumine said ribs with at least a faint glow.

, 3. In a device of the characterdescribed, the combination comprisingan annular opaque element having a vertical opening therethrough, anannular glass element associated with said opaque element and positionedon. said opening, means for supporting said elements, depending opaqueribs approaching each other .at their lower ends and supported by one of.said elements, an electric light within the spacedefined by said ribs,an opaque covering associated with the illuminated end of said light andextending upward as far as said glass element, said glass element beingadapted to receive light over the edgeof said covering and to reflectsaid received light down through said opening and against said ribs toillumine said ribs with at least a faint glow. v

4. In a device of the character described, the combination comprising anannular opaque element having a vertical opening therethrough, anannular glass element associated with said opaque element and positionedon said opening,

means for supporting said elements, depending opaque ribs approachingeach other at their lower ends and supported by one of said elements, anelectric light within the space defined by said ribs, said glass elementbeing adapted to receive light from said electric light and to reflectsaid received light down through said opening and against said ribs toillumine said ribs with at least a faint glow.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination comprising anannular opaque element having a vertical opening therethrough, anannular glass element associated with said opaque element and positionedon said opening, means for supporting said elements, depending opaqueribs approaching each other at their lower ends and supported by one ofsaid elements, an electric light within the space defined by said ribs,an opaque covering associated with the illuminated end of said light andextending upward as far as said glass element, said glass element beingadapted to receive light over the edge of said covering and to reflectsaid received light down through said opening and against said ribs toillumine said ribs with at least a faint glow, and an annular opaquereflector extending upward and outward and supported in association withthe first-mentioned elements.

6. In a device of the character described, the combination comprising anannular opaque element having a vertical opening therethrough, anannular glass element associated with said opaque element and positionedon said opening, means for supporting said elements, depending opaqueribs approaching each other at their lower ends and supported by one ofsaid elements, an electric light within the space defined by said ribs,an opaque covering associated with the illuminated end of said light andextending upward as far as said glass element, said glass element beingadapted to receive light over the edge of said covering and to reflectsaid received light down through said opening and against said ribs toillumine said ribs with at least a faint glow, and an annular opaquereflector extending upward and outward and supported in association withthe first-mentioned elements and positioned to receive light on itsunder surface from said glass element.

7. In a device of the character described, the combination comprising asupporting element,

an annular element supported by said supporting element and havingvertical openings therethrough, an annular glass element supported bythe first-mentioned annular element and positioned over said openings,an annular opaque reflector extending upward and outward and supportedby one of said elements, depending ribs joined at their lower ends andsupported by one of said elements, an electric light within the spacedefined by said ribs, and an opaque covering associated with theilluminated end of said light and extending upward as far as said glasselement, said glass element being adapted to receive light over the edgeof said covering and to reflect said received light down through saidopenings and adjacent said ribs to illumine said ribs with at least afaint glow and to reflect said received light against the lower surfaceof said opaque reflector, the lower surface of said reflector beingpositioned to receive only such reflected light, the upper surface ofsaid reflector being positioned to receive light direct from saidelectric light.

8. In a device of the character described, the combination comprising asupporting element, a planar element having a central opening andsupported by said supporting element and having vertical openingstherethrough, reflecting means for reflecting light from above saidopenings down through said openings, an opaque reflector having acentral opening and extending upwardly and outwardly and above saidplanar element, spaced ribs joined at their lower ends and dependingbelow said planar element, an electric light within the space defined bysaid ribs, and an opaque covering associated with the illuminated end ofsaid light and extending upward substantially as far as the top of saidplanar element, said reflecting means being positioned to receiveillumination which has come from said light over the edge of saidcovering and to reflect said received illumination adjacent said ribs toillumine said ribs with at least a faint glow and to reflect saidreceived light against the lower surface of said opaque reflector, thelower surface of said reflector being positioned to receive only suchreflected light, the upper surface of said reflector being positioned toreceive light direct from said electric light.

PETER J. PARLATO.

